Program Term Archive
Farmed Animals
Largest US Restaurant Company Targeted over Treatment of Workers, Animals, Environment
Press ReleaseMarch 24, 2016Farmed AnimalsA coalition of environmental, social justice, and animal welfare groups announced a campaign today calling on Olive Garden and its parent company, Darden Restaurant Inc., the nation’s largest full-service restaurant employer, to do...
AWI Report Sheds Light on Free Range Claim
Farmed AnimalsAWI recently published a report on the USDA’s label approval process for “free range” (and equivalent) claims. The report shows that the USDA inadequately defines and evaluates the claim. As...
FDA Clears the Way for Genetically Engineered Salmon
Farmed Animals, Marine WildlifeThe Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in November 2015 that it had approved genetically engineered (GE) salmon for human consumption—the first such approval for a GE animal. Further, the...
Inspector General Finds Fault with USDA’s Process Verified Program
Farmed AnimalsThe Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS), an agency within the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), maintains a voluntary marketing program that allows companies to use a “USDA Process Verified” shield on...
Will Custom-Exempt Slaughter Expand at Expense of Animal Welfare?
Farmed AnimalsThis is a story of the little known practice of custom-exempt slaughter, how it could expand in size and impact throughout the United States, and why that is almost certainly...
Investigation Sheds Light on Deception of “Free Range” Poultry Labels
Press ReleaseDecember 17, 2015Farmed AnimalsAs consumers hit supermarkets this month to prepare for holiday gatherings, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) today issued results from its investigation of approximately 90 brand-name poultry products. The results,...
Victory—then Defeat—for California Foie Gras Ban
Farmed AnimalsThe day after California’s law banning the production and sale of foie gras took effect on July 1, 2012, producers and restaurateurs sued to overturn it. They sought—but were denied—an...
AWI Uncovers Animal Suffering at Poultry Slaughterhouses
Farmed AnimalsUsing enforcement documents supplied by the USDA, AWI has identified the US poultry slaughter plants with the worst records on animal welfare. The survey covered violations of industry animal care...
Perdue’s Animal Care Standards Exposed
Farmed AnimalsPerdue Farms engages thousands of “contract farmers” each year to raise company-owned birds. Contract farmers are obligated to abide by Perdue’s animal-raising standards and any other specifications established by the...
Shocking Cruelty at USDA Research Center
Farmed AnimalsA January 19 article in The New York Times shined an extremely harsh light on the practices at the USDA’s Meat Animal Research Center (MARC) in Clay Center, Nebraska. The in-depth article described...